Web Page Tips: Style

The body area of your Web pages is your playground and where you determine the content that you want your users to see. While there are no rigid restrictions on the content you put in that space, there are some tips to help you present it and emphasize important content without causing confusion.

The University of Missouri-St. Louis wants to present content on its Website in the cleanest way possible, and that calls for uniformity in font and text.

Current Web practices are to use bold when emphasizing content.

Dreamweaver has many of the functionalities of word processing, but that doesn’t mean you should use those tools. What works in a printed medium or word processor does not always work well in a Web browser (notice how we just emphasized that point.)

Increasing the font size, changing font style or changing font color can be done in Dreamweaver and may make your text stand out, but also may make it harder to read. Using bold will not only make the text stand out, but it will be easier to read and does not create unnecessary code.

Italics are not to be used for Web content unless it is for referencing source material. Italics cause many problems for people with visual disabilities.

Under no circumstances should you use underlining to emphasize text. Underlining on a Web page signifies a link. Underlining text that is not a link will confuse and frustrate users.

The header in red at the top of your page should be the only text that is not in black within the body of the page.

Many times when text from word processing is copied and pasted into the body of a Web page, odd styles and code can occur. If you can, it is best to use Dreamweaver to compose content for the body of the Web page instead of a word processor.

If you have problems with odd styles or code occurring, email the Web Office.

If you have questions about whether any of your Web pages meet the university standard in regards to style, email the Web Office